Hart Murmurs # 142 by Bruce Hart
Greetings.
I was intrigued with the WWE’s recent announcement that it was introducing yet another title belt to its long list of championships, this time the 24/7 belt, so called because it can be won anytime, any place, as long as a referee is on hand to render the count.
I’m not really sure what the prevailing rationale for choosing to add another title belt is, as the last time I checked they already had nearly a dozen belts, including, in the men’s division: theUniversal title, the World Heavyweight title, the InterContinental title, the United States title, the RAW tag titles, the SmackDown tag titles and the Cruiserweight title; and, in the women’s division: the RAW women’s title, the SmackDown women’s title and the women’s tag team titles.
I might add that I have no idea which belts are supposedly more prestigious or coveted than others, nor, I suspect, do most of the marks, the wrestlers or for that matter, the WWE braintrust, itself.
Compounding matters, if and when any of these supposedly iconic championships changes hands, it invariably seems to be as a result of outside interference, use of a foreign object, a referee getting bumped or some other dubious pretext, which only further serves to erode the perceptible legitimacy of said title.
Tennis star Andre Agassi used to assert that “image is everything” and I tend to agree with him. Having said that, it’s easy to see why the mystique or ostensible propriety of the WWE titles – which is what it’s all about, has dwindled appreciably in recent years. Exacerbating the situation, there are far fewer bona fide superstars on the scene today than there used to be back in the day – in great part because of the elimination of the so-called “territories” – which used to produce all the great workers.
As for the aforementioned new “24/7” title, for some inexplicable reason, the WWE brass has decreed that it can change hands any place – in an outhouse, a whore house, a back alley or wherever the hell else, at any time, as long as a referee is on hand to render a count, which, to my way of thinking, only further cheapens the propriety of it.
Putting things into context – can you imagine if, the day after the Toronto Raptors had won the NBA title, some nondescript team challenged them to a game of horse and was subsequently crowned the new champions. If such were the case, basketball fans would derisively dismiss the NBA title as an illicit sham, and that’s about how most wrestling fans are beginning to perceive most of the WWE titles.
At this stage, I have no idea what the new AEW promotion has in mind as far as their title belts are concerned, but I would advise them to live up to their name “All Elite Wrestling”, by choosing to have just one men’s and women’s single title and one tag team title. Beyond that, in contrast to the WWE, they should strive to have any title changes on straight finishes, with no contrived contingencies and whatnot.
In winding up this diatribe, I might note that the NFL or MLB – both of which are bigger and have far more superstars than does the WWE, still each have only one penultimate championship – the Super Bowl and the World Series, and that seems to work just fine. I urge Vinnie Mac, Hunterand company to take note.
On that note, I’ll call this a wrap, but will look forward to catching up with you all next time